Good afternoon. We’ve compiled a shortlist of highlights from WIPO’s PCT newsletter, a resource for IP professionals and patent applicants looking to stay on top of changes associated with the PCT system. Please see a recap of this month’s edition:

The State Intellectual Property Service of Ukraine (SIPSU) will begin operating as an ISA and an IPEA effective February 5, 2016.

The Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO) and the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (Indonesia) notified the International Bureau (IB) that they are prepared to receive and process international applications in electronic form effective January 15, 2016. This brings the total number of receiving Offices to 34 with the ability to receive via the ePCT-Filing method.

A new release of the ePCT system was deployed on December 17, 2015. Some of the new features include: default access rights will now be set when you create a new international application and for cases where different fees are payable to the receiving Office in different currencies, it is now possible to indicate multiple currencies on the fees screen.

The Latvian Patent Office informed the IB that it has updated its policies and now waives the requirements to submit a separate power of attorney and/or a copy of a general power of attorney.

A new Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program began on January 11, 2015 between the National Institute of Industrial Property (Brazil) and the USPTO. This includes accelerated processing of national phase applications on the basis of a PCT application with a positive written opinion from the ISA or the IPEA.

To download the entire report, click here. Also, follow us on Twitter @inoviaIP for daily foreign filing and patent updates.

Hello everyone! Our friends at AFD China recently released their most recent newsletter. Please see below for highlights:

SIPO of China announced that the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program (PPH) between SIPO and UKIPO, IPO and PRV formally began on July 1, 2014. These program will run for 2 years, ending on June 30, 2016.

The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has partnered with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade to lend its expertise to Chinese companies. They will work together on 13 issues, including IP exchanges with foreign countries and managing IP training programs.

The Central Reform Leading Group held its third meeting and discussed the hierarchy of China’s IP courts. It was decided that to achieve consistency of the judgement on IP cases, three intermediate-level intellectual property courts will be set up in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.

On July 10th, the opening ceremony of the WIPO agency was held in Beijing. This is the fifth of its kind to be opened worldwide, after offices in the United States, Japan, Brazil and Singapore.

Thanks again to our colleagues at AFD China for issuing this very informative newsletter. For more updates relating to foreign patent filing, please follow us on Twitter @inoviaIP!